The Day After Yesterday
by Kelly Mullins
Summary: The little palmpilotcontrolled nanites are back and Skinner and Scully spend an unexpected night together and the consequences could be dire if Skinner can't do something fast.
1. A Night to Remember

Title:"The Day After Yesterday"

Author: Kelly Mullins

E-mail: Kelly. Page: Any thing about the conspiracy, SR819

Rating: R or M depending on where you're from.

Sequel info: "The Day Before Tomorrow" to follow eventually

Keywords: Skiner/Scully romance, angst, some humor

Summary: The little palm-pilot-controlled nanites are back and Skinner and

Scully spend an unexpected night together and the consequences could be detrimental if Skinner can't do some thing fast.

Disclaimer: No Mine... CC...1013...Fox...Don't sue...Med. Student...No money...

Authors Note: I've never seen a story where someone other than Skinner is taken over by those horrid little blood guys so here I am, putting someone else in danger, Breathe people it's not Queequeg. Okay so I really don't think recovery is this fast, or that the nurse would give up on missing blood so easily, but hey this is my universe and I say what goes. Also under that clause comes the whole Kersh being in charge of the X-Files thing...I'm bored okay...I don't believe in studying...maybe that's why I can't spell...

"The Day After Yesterday"

by. Kelly Mullins

The Apartment of D.K. Scully

6:30am

Dana Scully rolled over in bed and was disappointed. He was gone, of course he was, he had to go home, just like her he had to be at work by nine. She only wished he had awakened her before he had departed for Crystal City. Last night had been amazing, she'd had more fun than she could remember and then of course she hadn't gone to bed alone...

It had all started when she had finally made the decision to go see a movie, her first time without Mulder or anyone else, she was all alone.

Dana stepped out of the cab and onto the curb, she paid the driver and he drove away. She was walking toward the ticket booth when she saw him; he was wearing jeans and a dark blue FBI tee shirt; she had never taken the time to notice how good he looked, his tight shirt showing his tight, not bulky, muscles- she soon realized she was staring at her boss' butt quite intently. "I've gotta get a life." She said to herself, and continued on in line to buy her ticket.

Walter Skinner had decided to go see a movie for the first time since his wife, Sharon, had left him. He was doing well so far; he had driven his Ford Crown Victoria all the way there, parked, and then bought his ticket. He started to walk into the theater when he saw her-Dana Scully. She was the picture of perfection in a yellow dress that accentuated her fire red hair and made her look like a teenager. He remembered this was one of his subordinates. "I need a life." He noted to himself, receiving questioning glances from those around him.

Somewhere in the crowd he lost sight of her and decided it was for the best. He went in and sat down in the dark theater.

Scully sat in the dark awaiting the start of the film. She was seriously rethinking sitting there for the next two hours alone; someone sat down next to her, why they kept the theater pitch black until the previews she didn't know.

Finally after an eon of waiting the previews started, Skinner looked around the theater and noticed how many people were there; he smelt a wonderfully familiar scent and looked around once more, right next to him he realized sat the source, the lovely Dana Scully. Dana could feel eyes on her, she looked around and right next to her sat the surly Walter Skinner.

Their eyes met and for a minute they just sat gawking at each other, eyes locked.

"Hello Sir." Dana had spoken first.

"Hello Agent Scully, how are you?"

"Bit bored, this is my first movie without my mother or Mulder, he decided to stay at his apartment and watch his 'videos' all night."

"Yeah, this is my first movie since Sharon."

"So what about this movie attracted you?" Dana tried to make conversation during the previews.

He smiled. "It was just something to see." She couldn't take her eyes off his unusually smiling face. "How about you? Why this movie?"

"I guess it's just a movie to see." She used his excuse and matched the size of his smile.

Eventually the movie started and about ten minutes into it they both realized this was not the film they had paid to see; it was an excruciatingly boring children's film. Most of the other people in the theater left but not Dana or Skinner, they both just sat there laughing at all of the kiddie jokes and making fun of it between the two of them.

"You wanna go grab some dinner?" Skinner asked, once the show had gotten too horrible to bear.

"Skinner, are you asking me on a date?" She questioned, feigning seriousness.

He thought a moment. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"Okay then, I accept, dinner sounds good." She gave him another smile as they got out of their seats.

"Did you bring your car?"

"No, I came in a cab."

"All right then, I guess we'll take mine."

"Sure, so where are we going?"

"I don't know, what kind of food do you like?" He opened the door to the

Crown Victoria for her.

"I'm starving, right now I'll eat anything."

"Feel like pizza? I know a great little pizza bakery."

"As long as the pizza is Chloral Hydrate free, it sounds good to me."

Skinner drove expertly through the streets of downtown DC. "So how has life with Kersh been going lately?"

"It's been making Mulder and I miss you very much."

"Well the excitement has really gone out of my life without the expense and field reports that read like cheap science-fiction, I'm speaking of Mulder's, not yours, of course."

"Well some of mine were pretty out there too."

He pulled up next to a building and parked in the back. "We're here."

They had walked into the small Italian restaurant and were immediately assaulted by the wonderful scent of baking pizza. "Hi Walter." Said a rotund Italian gentleman from behind the counter. "Go ahead and seat yourselves, I'll be right over."

Skinner steered Scully toward a booth on the far side of the restaurant where a couple other patrons were quietly eating their dinners.

"So you come here often?"

"Oh yeah, all the time, it's kinda far from my apartment but you can't beat the service and then there's the pizza, best in the DC area."

"I live so close to this place and didn't even know it existed, which is surprising considering Mulder's been dragging me to eateries all over the DC area."

"So you and Mulder do a lot together?"

"We do everything together, but if you're asking if we're involved the answer is no. He's my best friend and we love each other more than anything... but not that way." She laughed. "I can't believe I'm telling you this."

"It's good to talk to you, and don't worry, I'm not gathering intel for Kersh."

"Walter, who's your beautiful dinner companion?" The man had joined them, as promised, to take their order.

"Vinnie, this is Dana Scully, we used to work together."

"Well Ms. Scully I've heard lots of things about you, and your partner, Fox Mulder."

"Really?" She questioned looking at Skinner.

"Nothing but good things of course."

"Of course." She winked at Skinner.

"So Ms. Scully, Walter- what'll it be?"

"Scully you mind?" He nodded toward her.

"No, go ahead."

"Okay, we'll have my usual and to drink I'll have an ice tea, Scully?"

"I'll have the same."

"Everything'll be right out." Vinnie turned and left.

The food came and she soon understood why Skinner loved it so much, it had been the best pizza she had ever tasted. The conversation hadn't been bad either once they had gotten past the "Call me Dana" and "Call me Walter" lines.

"Dana, you ready to go?" Walter asked. Once they had settled the bill after a mini-war of Scully wanting to pay - Walter had finally won claiming he had made her go and he would never be able to talk to his mother without knowing that he had failed her. The bill finally settled, they had lurched into a conversation about their mothers.

"Yes." Scully answered his question and took his hand on the way out of the restaurant.

She soon found herself and Skinner sitting in his car outside her apartment. "Thank you for tonight, I've felt uncharacteristically exuberant tonight and even though it's," She had paused to look at her watch. "1:30 am, I was wondering if you'd like to come in for some herbal tea?"

"I'd love to; I haven't enjoyed myself this much in years." They went into her apartment and he was astounded by the homelike feeling surrounding him as she went into the kitchen to put the water on to boil. Walter roamed around her living room looking at pictures of children, adults, and of course a lanky, paranoid FBI agent. Fox Mulder appeared to be at all of the Scully family gatherings.

"Mulder has joined my family." She said, answering the question she knew he couldn't ask. "My mother took him in while I was gone."

"So you now have Fox Mulder for a brother?"

"He adds color to our family gatherings." She laughed. The teakettle whistled and Dana scurried to the kitchen. "Hey Skinner, what flavor do you want? Mint, honey-lemon, or chamomile?" She yelled from the kitchen.

"I don't know, you choose for me."

"Okay." She chose chamomile and carried the two cups of steaming liquid out to the living-room, where Walter was flipping through her music collection.

"You've got quite a lot of stuff here."

"Most of those are Mulder's, he likes my sound system better than his so he basically lives here on weekends." She took the CD case from him and chose a disk. She put it on and soon the room was filled with the intoxicating sound of dark rhythms.

They sat on the couch and just talked for about an hour about their lives, Skinner had opened up to her about when he was a marine and the crazy things that occurred during the war. Eventually she leaned her head against his shoulder and he pulled his arms around her; she moved so she was facing him and as they began to kiss the phone rang. Dana broke the embrace and scrambled to get the offensive ringing device.

"Scully."

"Hey Scully, it's me."

"Mulder! It's 2:30 in the morning, what do you need?"

"Nothing Scully, how was your movie?"

"It was great Mulder, I saw the latest kid's flick- of course I left before it was over, but I did have a wonderful dinner."

"Okay, good night Scully, glad you had fun."

"Bye Mulder." She hung up the phone.

"Does he always call at this hour?"

"Mulder calls whenever he's thinking, no matter what time it is." She walked over to the CD player and restarted the disk that had finished playing, then went Skinner who was now standing, grasped his neck and pulled him down to her level.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Skinner questioned her actions.

"Oh yeah." She said and covered his mouth with hers.

"Sounds good to me." He got caught up in a wave of passion; he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist and stumbled in the general direction of her bedroom. Skinner paused, thinking to himself, he knew that Dana wouldn't have a one night stand, and that by doing this he had agreed to an unspoken commitment.

Dana looked over at her clock and rolled over to get ready for work, she felt a piece of paper under her.

Dana,

Had to go, sorry I didn't wake you.

We'll talk later.

Walter.

She was happy he didn't wake up and run out her door scared at what they had done, she was having trouble believing it herself; she had just had sex with Walter Skinner! Her mind was reeling, no protection was used, obviously neither one of them had expected this to happen. She knew she couldn't have children so there was no pregnancy scare to worry about; the doctor part of her mind was also on over drive, she knew she didn't have any sexually transmitted diseases, but what about Skinner? The only thing she knew was that he was divorced from a woman named Sharon and they'd never had any children; of course Skinner was required to undergo regular medical exams...

Scully stopped herself, she wasn't going to think about this right now, she stood up and walked over to her closet, immediately wanting to crawl back under the sheets and sleep away an eternity. Every muscle in her body ached, not just from her early morning activities with Skinner, but mostly because she'd had only two hours of sleep; her muscles were not ready for the exertion she'd submitted them to.

She made the decision to go into work and make sure Mulder didn't run off on some wild alien chase before coming back home to sleep. She forced herself to open the closet doors and take out the most comfortable clothes she had- a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt she'd had since her academy days, she loved it and was delighted it still looked brand new.

Walking out of her apartment and into the assaulting heat of Washington DC in the summer, she quickly locked her door and made her way to her car, nodding politely to Dannie and Kat, the two women who were always standing outside the building sharing the latest gossip.

It was an uneventful car ride to the Hoover building and Scully was hoping she didn't run into Skinner; she just didn't have the energy to be Assistant Director Skinner and Special Agent Scully. She managed to make it safely down to her and Mulder's office, Mulder was there, of course, hunched over his desk looking intently at some sort of file.

"Good morning Scully." He didn't look up.

"Speak for yourself." She replied tiredly.

He finally looked at her. "What's wrong Scully, you're not dressed for work."

"I just came in to make sure you don't run off without me. If you promise not to leave town, I'm going home."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I feel like I've been exsanguinated a couple of times over, I'm tired and I really want is to go home and sleep."

"Go home Scully, I'll call you if anything exciting happens." The phone rang, interrupting him. "Mulder." Pause. "yeah, on her way up." pause. "Thanks Kim." Scully already knew where this was leading. Mulder hung up. "That was Kimberly; you've been summoned to Skinner's office."

"Alone?"

"Yeah, look at the bright-side, without me there, he probably won't yell, and just remember, he's not your AD anymore."

"That's helpful Mulder, but I'm not even dressed for a meeting."

"Better go on Scully, wouldn't want Kim to have to come all the way down here- just explain that you were on your way out."

"Bye Mulder, see you tomorrow."

Scully rode up in the elevator silently nodding to other people coming on from various floors. She stepped out and walked down the hall, getting odd looks from the people noticing her attire. Finally she arrived in Skinner's outer office where Kim sent her in telling her the AD was waiting. She went in, closed the door behind herself and was relieved that Skinner was the only other person in the office.

"Good morning, sir." She said, taking her customary seat in front of his desk. If she thought she looked tired, he looked as if he hadn't slept in years.

"Dana I really think we could forgo the 'sir'."

"Okay, so you wanted to talk?" She crossed her arms over her chest, fully cognizant of her attire.

"Yeah, but let's do that over lunch."

"I was just on my way home. I only came in today to speak to Mulder."

"You didn't tell him about...?" He didn't want to finish the sentence in the presence of any electronic ears.

"No, I just made sure he wouldn't run off and get himself killed."

"I noticed you weren't exactly dressed for work. But that shirt is a nice touch." They both laughed. "How about I come pick you up at your place and we can go to Vinnie's."

"Okay, what time?"

"Noon?"

"I'll be ready." She stood up, smiled at him and left- another meal with Skinner, she couldn't wait.


	2. Consequences

Walter Skinner couldn't believe what he had let occur that previous night. He had woken up that morning with Dana in his arms and had felt utterly content. He had only slept for about an hour and a half, but he had pulled himself out of her bed carefully without waking her and just watched her sleep noticing that she looked innocent and unguarded. He had realized he had to go all the way to Crystal City before heading to the Hoover, so he scribbled a short note and reluctantly drove home. Thinking of Dana for the full length of his commute, during his very cold shower, dressing, he couldn't even get his mind on anything else while he was doing his morning paperwork. Eventually his phone rang, startling him out of his reverie. "Skinner." He said, and as the director started to speak, his mind wondered in Dana's direction once more.

Dana unlocked her front door and headed straight for her room. She kicked off her shoes and crawled under the covers. Halfway asleep the phone rang. "Why me!" She said before picking up. "Scully."

"Dana honey, it's mom."

"Hi Mom, Mulder call you?"

"Yes, he was worried, he said you looked sick."

"I'm not sick, I'm just tired, I only got a couple of hours of sleep last night."

"Honey you're going to have to watch out for your health more than that."

"It couldn't be helped; I had company over last night." She hoped she didn't give away just what she had been doing with that 'company' the previous night.

"Company? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't have a down party mother! We just met up at the theater, went to dinner, and came back to my place for some tea. I've gotta go now, I'm tired. Bye I love you."

"Love you too honey, good bye." Scully hung up the phone and leaned back on the pillow-covered headboard of her bed. Her thoughts started to drift in Skinner's direction, she tried to vanquish the idea that she and Skinner could actually 'be' together, but the idea appealed to her, she could easily imagine going to sleep in his arms every night and waking up to his warm embrace every morning.

She wondered if Walter would ever want to get married again, she knew that his marriage to Sharon had legally lasted 17 years, but it had been over long before then. Sharon blamed it on Skinner's job; well Dana was acquainted with his job and its hazards. She knew how to talk to him about things that pertained to work, but of course planning a wedding was a little fast paced for her tired mind and she didn't want to push anything when it came to Walter Skinner; slowly she drifted off to sleep.

Her dreams were filled with images of dilapidated buildings, people ravaged by unseen enemies and terror surrounding her that was immeasurable, when she awoke she was drenched in sweat from thrashing around. She pulled her tired body toward the bathroom where she turned on the shower, stripped off her clothes and climbed under the soothing warm water. Once she had thoroughly cleaned herself she reluctantly climbed back out of the shower, wrapped her body in a towel and walked back into her bedroom. Dana Scully collapsed onto her bed, still sopping wet in her towel and quickly fell back into a restless sleep.

At 11:56 there was a knock at Dana Scully's front door, at noon the door was opened. "Dana!" The intruder called, receiving no answered he continued through her apartment. Skinner came to Scully's bedroom door which was slightly ajar and pushed it the rest of the way open to reveal her prone form. "Dana!" He called gently to her once again, she didn't answer and he was immediately worried. Skinner rushed to her side, greatly relieved when he noticed the slight rise and fall of her chest, he tried to awaken her and after moments of futility he pulled the phone from its cradle and called for an ambulance.

Three hours later, Mulder pushed through the doors to the emergency waiting area coming across Skinner sitting head-in-hands in one of the padded plastic chairs. "Skinner, what's going on here?"

"I don't know Mulder, I went over to Scully's and when she didn't open the door I let myself in; the door was unlocked, I found her on her bed, and couldn't wake her."

"Have they said what's wrong with her?"

"She has some sort of infection; they're doing more lab work right now."

"Who would have ever thought something like this would bring Scully down? Cancer couldn't even take her out, now some infection comes along and she's in a coma. Did you call her mother?"

"No, I forgot about her, I'll do that now." Skinner stood up and stalked heavily toward the pay phone. Walter pulled out the yellow slip of paper on which he had written Margaret Scully's number, the crumpled paper was almost illegible from being shoved haphazardly in his suit pant's pocket. "Mrs. Scully?"

"Yes, who's this?"

"Walter Skinner, I work with your daughter at the FBI." He tried to sound as calm as possible.

"Yes Mr. Skinner, I know who you are, what's wrong with Dana?"

"That's the problem Mrs. Scully, we don't know, she's in a coma here at

Georgetown."

"Oh dear, I'm on my way." Skinner hung up and walked slowly back to Mulder who looked at him expectantly.

"She's on her way." He muttered, and plopped down next to the man who was sitting very much as he had been earlier.

"That's good; everything just seems to be better when Maggie's around."

"I haven't seen her in two years."

"She's still basically the same; she's just getting more loveable over time." Mulder gave him a slight smile and they went back to the companionable silence that had developed between them.

An hour later, moments after Maggie Scully had arrived, a doctor had come out to talk to the small group. "Dana is suffering from some sort of nanocytal infection, I've never seen anything like it before, I've only read of one case even remotely similar. It was also out of DC, I don't have all of the facts but as I recall a cure was never discovered." Mulder looked at Skinner.

"Not again, this can't happen again and be unrelated."

"There is one odd thing I'd like you three to consider, the highest concentration of nanites is in her pelvic region and it is slowly diffusing throughout her entire body. I am calling in a Dr. Cabrar; she was the chief physician on the last case involving these nanites."

"Dr. Cabrar is good, but she doesn't have any real expertise on these things." Skinner said reflexively at the mention of his former doctor's name.

"Do you know her?"

"Yes, I was the other person diagnosed with the nanites; they're just dormant now, not cured."

"Mr. Skinner, I'd advise that you make sure we get fresh samples of your blood." He walked away taking Maggie Scully back to see her daughter. Skinner turned to Mulder who was deep in thought; and sat back down in the chair to wait.

Sometime later Mulder turned in his seat pinning Skinner with a convicting glance. "Did you have sex with Scully?"

"What do you mean, Agent Mulder?" He tried to not sound like a teenager.

"Come on Skinner, it's the only thing that makes sense, the nanites are spreading through her body, from her pelvic area, and we all know what's down there. Skinner you did, didn't you?"

"Mulder, what Agent Scully and I do in private is none of your business, but considering that her life is in jeopardy, yes we spent last night together." Skinner scrubbed his hands down his face.

"And I'm just going to guess you didn't use any protection."

"Really Mulder, it didn't cross either of our minds, at least not until afterward."

"Well at least we don't have to worry about a pregnancy while she's in her coma." Skinner looked strangely at him, as if it was a contingency he had never even considered. "She did tell you she can't conceive children, right?"

"No, she didn't mention it."

"Well the question now is why the nanites turned on when they entered her body."

"I don't know, this really isn't an issue that's come up in the past year."

"Well it's definitely something to talk to Dr. Cabrar about and maybe even Mrs. Scully." At the mention of Margaret Scully knowing of the previous night's activities, Skinner turned green.

"Why do we have to tell Mrs. Scully?"

"Because she's bound to find out sometime, it's probably better she gets it from you."

"Mulder how the hell am I supposed to tell Margaret Scully that I had sex with her daughter last night?"

"I don't know, but first let's see how her nanites compare to yours. This may be a completely unrelated thing; hers could have been contracted in a manner very much like yours." While Krycek's hands on Scully sickened him, it did give him a possible outlet for his rage.

"I hate to say it, but I hope so. I don't want to be responsible for these little buggers being inside of her."

"Lets go see if Dr. Cabrar is here, and check on Scully."

Soon Mulder, Skinner, and Dr. P.E. Kedelko - the ER doctor who had treated

Scully, stood in a conference room awaiting Dr. Cabrar who was changing into scrubs. She entered and shook hands with Mulder and then Skinner. "You're looking well Mr. Skinner. How have you been feeling?"

"Good doctor, thank you. My colleague Dana Scully is experiencing many of the same symptoms that I did. Though clotting on her is much less severe."

"Yes, I've heard, any idea as to how she contracted them?" Skinner looked nervously at Mulder.

"We think they were," Mulder paused. "Possibly sexually transmitted."

"I'm assuming from Walter?"

"Yes." He answered.

"When?"

"Last night."

"We'll check, just to make sure yours match hers. And then we'll try to fight 'em." She smiled and left to go check her new patient.

"Well that went smoothly." Mulder commented as Dr. Kedelko followed Dr. Cabrar out of the room.

TWO HOURS LATER

The nanites had been a positive match; Skinner had unknowingly transmitted his 'little buddies' to Scully. Telling Margaret had been an incredibly difficult ordeal, though Dr. Cabrar was the one who inadvertently let the proverbial nanites out of the bag.

"Skinner." Mulder placed a hand on the AD's shoulder, he had briefly closed his eyes and had drifted to that place between sleep and wakefulness for about 15 minutes. "Maggie wants you to join her for some coffee downstairs."

"Why?" He sounded like a little kid.

"Because, she's not quite ready to come back up just yet, and she's already pumped me for all the information I know." Mulder looked to Scully who appreared much like Skinner had while he had been overcome by the same condition.

"In other words, I'm in trouble."

"Yeah, I think she's just concerned for her little girl, and who she's hanging out with now."

"Well she 'hangs out' with you every day, Maggie's never seemed concerned before."

"Just get down there; I'll 'hang' with Scully until you get back." Skinner shuffled out of the ICU and down the hall to the elevator. He couldn't believe it, he was actually scared of Mrs. Scully. Walter felt like he was back in high school again and Loria Mattison's mother had found out what they'd been doing after the senior prom. He kept trying to tell himself he was now an adult, but Maggie Scully's face seemed to come into his mind shouting the same things Mrs. Mattison had been yelling.

"Walter," Maggie called to him when he entered the cafeteria. "Come sit over here with me. Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm fine thank you." He leaned back slightly in his chair to stretch his legs.

"Are you sure? You've been here longer than any of us."

"I really don't feel like eating."

"Okay," She looked around for a minute. "You know, I'm not going to give you a lecture, you're much too old for that." He gave her a strange look. "You're too old because you're both adults, responsible for your actions."

"It wasn't that Mrs. Scully, it's just this is my fault- those nanites came from me." He stood up, got a cup of coffee from the nearby pot and sat back down. "I don't know what to do for now; or what she'd want me to do."

"Just be there for her, help Dr. Cabrar, donate your blood to help find a cure for her."

"I'm trying, Dr. Cabrar has more of my blood than I do, I think she just enjoys poking me with needles." Maggie smiled and placed her hand over his.

"Dana really cares about you, and now I see why. You're loyal, you're sticking around now- facing up to the truth of what happened, not trying to bury it or disguise it like other men might. I have great respect for you Walter Skinner."

"Thank you, that means a lot to me. I care about Dana, even though I'm not supposed to and even though one of us is bound to be sent to some remote field office once this whole thing gets back to the bureau."

"I know you'll do every thing you can, and that right now you're giving up a lot." She stood and together they made their way back upstairs, Mulder was right, things were better when Maggie was around.

Four hours later, after another laser surgery to remove clots from

Scully's body, Dr. Cabrar had a theory. "It had to be the electrical currents, they must have done it." She said to no one in particular.

"Huh?" Skinner questioned.

"Everyone has electrical currents running through their bodies, and everyone's are on a different frequency. Walter, your nanites could be tuned to your frequency, so when they entered Dana's body, through your semen, they would have encountered a different frequency and possibly have turned on. The problem is, now they're active, and we don't know how to make them dormant like Walter's."

"So essentially we're back where we started from." Mulder stood up dejectedly.

"I'm going to go work on this frequency theory of mine." She left the room and Maggie went to a very distressed Walter's side.

"Why don't you go home, take a shower, maybe get a meal and some sleep.

We'll be here with Dana."

"No, I'm fine."

"Walter, don't say no to me, you're going home... now!" He was intimidated by the little woman, obviously where Scully got the ability from. He stood up, and taking one last look at the purple and blue bruised Scully, departed.


	3. Desperation

He unlocked his door shoving it open, a rat stood in the darkness. "Mr. Skinner, just the man I wanted to see."

"What do you want Krycek, you're the cause of all of my problems right now."

"Come on Skinner, I'm not the one who dipped my wick in Agent Scully."

Skinner had to use all the restraint he could muster not to beat Krycek to a bloody pulp. "Krycek, I'm really not in the mood."

"You sure were last night, but enough of that; I think I can help you, though first I need something from you."

"What do you want?" He walked into the kitchen and took out a carton of orange juice.

"I want your services, for one evening, beyond our original agreement of course."

"What do I have to do?"

"I will give you instructions when I need you, do you agree to my terms?"

"First what will you do for Scully?"

"I could control her nanites just as I do yours. Of course I'd need a sample of her blood, to determine all of the settings."

"Will she get to keep her controller?"

"Yes, you're the only one I control. But don't think about modifying it to be able to shut off your nanites, the control mechanism will be quite different."

"Fine, you've got yourself a deal." Skinner took a swig of the juice and placed it back in the fridge. "I'll handle getting the blood samples for you myself."

"Fine, I'll meet you in the hospital parking garage at 11:30 tonight."

"I'll be there."

"Do not be late, Mr. Skinner." The one-armed-man left through the front door.

Skinner stripped off his clothes and pulled his body into the frigid shower, the water having not been turned on beforehand. He scrubbed roughly at his skin; he felt dirty after his 'meeting' with Krycek, once again he had made an agreement, crossed over to the dark-side for Scully, for Mulder, for the truth.

Life for Water Skinner had been nothing but blackmail, lies and conspiracies for the last 6 years; but everything had changed, changed for the better and the worse simultaneously, the second he had taken Dana Scully into his arms and heart for as long as she wanted him.

As the air-conditioner sent a burst of cold over his dripping torso, Walter quickly toweled off and clothed himself in the most comfortable attire he owned. He had a long night ahead of himself and that was after he stole the blood for Krycek.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Walter parked his car in a darkened area of the parking-garage; he didn't want anyone to be able to connect him to Krycek. He locked his doors and went up to Dana's room. "Welcome back Walter, you look better." Maggie welcomed.

"I feel better."

"Did you get any sleep?"

"No, I didn't feel like it."

"Well I sent Fox home 20 minutes ago, and if you don't mind I think I'll go home and get some sleep myself, I'll be back early in the morning."

"Don't worry, I'll be here, and I will call you if anything happens." Maggie Scully departed and Skinner took Scully's hand and sat down in the seat Maggie had just vacated. "Dana, I'm sorry I know you're going to be mad at me, but I made a deal with Krycek to hopefully save you. I know you have every right to hate me and I'll understand if you never want to be anywhere near me again. I just don't know what else to do, this is my fault and he is the only person who really knows anything about these nanites." He looked at his watch and realized for the first time that he had only 15 minutes to obtain the blood and get downstairs to meet Krycek. He stood up and quickly sat again as a nurse came in, he felt guilty despite not having stolen anything yet.

"Hello Mr. Skinner, I just need to draw some blood." She apparently didn't notice his 'quick-sit' and continued her drawing from Scully's already bruised arm, Skinner saw his opportunity. He stood and after she had filled two vials he accidentally-on-purpose knocked her supply container to the floor breaking the remaining glass containers.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"That's all right Mr. Skinner; I'll just go get two more tubes, and someone to clean up the glass." As soon as the nurse was gone he grabbed the two tubes that were lined up neatly on the bed, pocketed them, and kissing Dana on the forehead made his way down to the garage.

"Thank you for being prompt, I trust you have the samples." Krycek came into the dim light near Skinner.

"Would I be here if I didn't?" He asked, annoyed and pulled the blood out placing it in Krycek's open palm.

"I'll be in touch." The rat walked away and got into a black car, leaving Skinner alone in the darkness.

Walter Skinner went back upstairs and walked smoothly into Scully's room. "Mr. Skinner, do you know where the blood I took from Dana earlier went?"

"No, I went to the bathroom." He hoped he didn't sound nearly as foolish as his brain was telling him he did.

"Oh, well I'll have to inform my shift supervisor, she's not going to be happy...lost blood is not looked highly upon."

"I'm sorry, if I hadn't left the room the blood would probably still be in its place."

"Well there's nothing we can do about it now, I'm going to talk to the charge nurse." She left and Skinner sat heavily down in the chair he had left only moments earlier.

"I'm sorry." Skinner silently apologized to the young woman who could possibly lose her job because of another of his secrets; she couldn't hear him, of course, but he had to say if anyway if only for absolution from only a small portion of his personal demons.

The rest of the night he spent watching Dana's skin become darker hues of blue, she looked like one of Mulder's aliens, progressively getting more alien every moment. At 5am Mulder came in the room and paled at the sight that presented it's self to him, Scully was dark purple ranging to near black in some areas, much worse than Skinner was at the time he was declared dead.

"I guess she's not doing very well." He declared, startling Skinner who had his head next to Scully's thigh, fixated on her placid face.

"You're right, she's reached the 24 hour mark, and things aren't going well at all."

"Maybe Dr. Cabrar will come out with a major breakthrough at the last minute."

"Always the optimist."

"Well somebody's got to have faith in her recovery."

"Trust me, I do." He stood up as his cell phone began to ring. "I'm going to get a drink downstairs, want anything?"

"No." He answered as Skinner punched his cell-phone on and left the room.

"Krycek, what do you have for me?" he asked once safely in the elevator.

"After a long night with no sleep, mind you, I have the machine for you."

"Good, when do I get it?"

"20 minutes, same place as last night."

"Okay, I'll be there." Skinner shut off his phone, hope coming into his face, he knew Krycek was a dirty bastard, but he did hold the key to controlling the nanites, and sometimes trusting the devil was the only way to get redemption from evil.

The parking garage was dark, very dark, and very cold for the middle of summer. Skinner walked to the exact spot he had stood on only seven hours earlier and felt absolutely horrible for dealing with the demons of the dark to save his angel of the light. "Skinner," Krycek came up behind him. "Here, I'll leave the controls to you; I trust you know how to use it?"

"Yes." He took the silver contraption and placed it in his trench coat pocket. "Thank you."

"This was a business transaction, nothing more. Remember Skinner, I still have your controller."

"Yes, I haven't forgotten. When will you be in need of my services?"

"Tonight, meet on the corner of K Street and 14th Street, 11pm."

"I'll be there." He turned around and ran from the deck, trying not to run straight up to Scully's room.

Once inside her room he was relieved when Mulder stated his need to use the bathroom and that he had decided to get that drink after all. He was soon gone, Skinner pulled the palm pilot out of his pocket and slowly pulled the display meter on the screen down to nothing, watching as Scully slowly changed colors as her skin went back to its smooth texture, making her look badly bruised. He replaced the palm pilot in his pocket and went to Dana's side as she started twitching.

"Dana." He took her hand and with his other hand, pushed her hair out of her eyes. The same eyes that opened slowly to look up to his. "Hey."

"Hey" She repeated his words hoarsely. Skinner was immediately glad the doctors had decided not to intubate her, which would have made explaining her recovery to her a whole lot harder.

"How do you feel?"

"Not good, why am I here?"

"The nanites, they were in my semen, I'm sorry I didn't know. It's been longer than 24 hours; we were really worried about you." Scully looked down at her light blue/purple arms.

"Why did I recover?" He took out the palm pilot and placed it in her lap. She picked it up and opened it looking at the darkened LCD screen.

"Krycek made it for you; my nanites are controlled by one similar to this."

"He's had control of you, that's why you've kept things from us, he could have killed you." For the first time she understood everything.

"Yes, I hate this control he has over me, it's maddening, but there's nothing I can do about it now. You're better and he doesn't have control over you, that's all that matters."

"Um Walter, where's Mulder?"

"He went to get a drink. He doesn't know anything about this business with Krycek."

"Take this then." She handed the palm pilot back. "He doesn't need to know, it would probably just get him killed anyway." Skinner put the little thing back in his pocket as Scully added. "I'll just have a miraculous, inexplicable recovery, just like yours."

"I guess we'll have to inform Dr. Cabrar you're awake."

"She's working on me?"

"Yes, she doesn't have very much real knowledge about these things, but she's been working extremely hard to save you." He took her hand again, in need of her warmth and reassurance.

"Has my mother been around?"

"Yes, she left late last night after sending Mulder home; I guess I'd better call her."

"Does she know how I contracted the nanites?"

"Yes." He put his head down in semi-embarrassment. "Dr. Cabrar let it slip, your mother then took me downstairs to the cafeteria for a lecture on how we're mature adults and she can't control our sex lives and how she thinks I'm a loyal, honorable man."

"Which you are." She pulled him down to her level and kissed his lips lightly as Mulder entered the room.

"Scully, you're all right!"

"Not all right, just a whole lot better, considering I'm awake."

"That's great, I'll go let Dr. Cabrar know, and I'll call Maggie." He smiled like a little kid on Christmas as he left the room.

"You think he'll ever question the cure?" Asked Skinner.

"Probably, but he questions everything, it's his way." She replied.

Soon Dr. Cabrar had come and gone, once again completely dumbfounded. Scully had been deemed well and could go home the next day, after a fun filled night of observation and tests. Skinner had decided to stay with Scully until she got out, feeling it was not only his responsibility but he also had the suspicion that he was falling in love with the fire-haired woman. Mulder had spent a few hours with her until she had gone back to sleep, he had left to take Scully's very happy mother home once Skinner had assured them they would be all right.

"Walter?" Scully had rolled over on her side to look at the sitting man who had his eyes tightly closed.

"Yes?" His eyes opened and he smiled at her.

"How are you paying him?"

"Him?"

"Krycek, how are you paying him for the control of my nanites?" Her voice wasn't accusing, it was curious.

"I'm not sure; all I know is when and where I'm supposed to meet him."

"You're going to do whatever he tells you to?"

"Within reason, Dana he still controls me, if I don't give him the requested form of payment he'll get it out of me that way."

"When do you have to meet him?"

"Tonight, 11pm."

"Well, you've got 3 hours to prepare; please try not to put yourself in danger, if that's at all possible.

"Dealing with Krycek is always dangerous." Dr. Cabrar entered, a smile on her face, having completed the research they had requested she do.

"Great news Mr. Skinner, Ms. Scully, considering you both have inactive nanites in your blood already, if your blood were to mix again there shouldn't be any problems."

"Thank you Doctor." Scully responded softly.

"Well I guess I'll be seeing you before you leave." She left and Skinner turned to Scully.

"Why couldn't she just say we can have sex?"

"Come here." She laughed and pulled him down on the bed next to her. "Kiss me Walter." She commanded, and being the well-educated military man he once was, he followed her orders and pulled her small body to his. "I love you."

Skinner paused. She'd really said it, hadn't she? His mind could have been playing tricks on him, but considering the rest of the things that had been happening for the last few days he replied. "I love you too, but Dana, I'm not worthy of your love." He stood abruptly and moved away from the bed, hoping that his mind wouldn't keep allowing him to hurt Scully.

"Why not Walter?" She stood also, fortunate he was on the same side of the bed as her IV pole. "You've gotten a cure for me, you've stuck around through all of this, you're going to go tonight and do some unknown deed for that bastard, and you spoke openly to my mother." She put her hands on his shoulders. "I love you, I have since before you took me to Vinnie's after that kiddie movie, but it was then that I actually realized it." She smiled softly. "There is absolutely no reason you're not worthy of me."

"I've been dealing with Krycek for over a year, and I haven't told you. I've been helping him hamper your and Mulder's work on the X-Files, and I never warned either of you." He defended his pity party.

"But he was threatening your life!" She was shaking him as well as a very short woman can shake a very tall man.

"That's still no excuse, I've betrayed you, you have all the reason in the world to hate me."

"But I don't Walter, and that's all that matters." She pulled her arms as best she could around him, placing her now tear-tracked face to his chest. Skinner resisted until she murmured how much she really believed in him. He crushed her to his chest and started rubbing her back lovingly.

Soon Walter sat down on the bed and cradled Dana in his arms, wondering if he would soon lose the very woman he had been striving to save.

End...To be continued in "The Day Before Tomorrow"


End file.
